Public Safety · Miami-Dade County
Jennifer Arias, 29, died August 13 after undergoing liposuction and a Brazilian Butt Lift at New Life Plastic Surgery in Miami; the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner attributed her death to bilateral pulmonary fat emboli and classified it as an accident. NBC6 Investigates found Arias is at least the sixth patient death linked to the clinic since 2018, with surgeon Julio Clavijo-Alvarez also involved in a 2022 patient death. Court records show Alvarez was reprimanded by the Florida Board of Medicine in 2024 and fined $15,000 over three administrative complaints, while New Life Plastic Surgery has faced more than a dozen malpractice lawsuits in six years. The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office confirmed its homicide bureau has an open investigation into Arias' death.
Public Safety · Miami, FL
A memo released this week by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office declared that three Miami Police officers' use of deadly force during a June 14, 2025 shooting outside the Electric Lady nightclub in Wynwood was legally justified. The shooting killed gunman Norman Lindo Jr. and 28-year-old bystander Evelyn Valdés, who was struck while riding in a car leaving the scene; a club manager was also hit but survived. Sergeants Jose Cabrera and Javier Herbello and Officer Dorian Acosta opened fire after Lindo failed to drop a weapon he was brandishing in a crowded street. Valdés' mother has filed a lawsuit against the officers and the city alleging excessive force, wrongful death, and negligence. Two officers returned to full duty two weeks after the incident; the third was reassigned to the real-time crime center.
Crime · Miami-Dade County
Three suspects attempted home burglaries near Chase Avenue in Miami Beach around lunchtime Wednesday before stealing a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen from a driveway near SW 136th Street and 102nd Avenue in Southwest Miami-Dade that afternoon. A Broward Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit tracked the stolen SUV to Hallandale Beach, where it crashed at Sheridan Street and North Park Road; 14-year-old Daveion Gill and 16-year-old Guiyermo Spillman Jr. were arrested and face multiple felony charges including unarmed burglary of an occupied dwelling and traveling across county lines with intent to commit burglary. A third suspect remains at large, and Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers is accepting tips at 305-471-TIPS.
Local Politics · Miami Beach, FL
Miami Beach commissioners approved a new multiyear agreement to continue hosting Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center through 2031, with an optional extension through 2033. The art fair has been held in the city since 2002 and attracted approximately 80,000 visitors last year. City officials cited roughly $570 million in economic impact across Miami-Dade County from the event.
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Local Politics · Opa-locka, FL
Anthony Mitchell, arrested in August 2024 for the alleged attempted murder of then-Opa-locka Vice Mayor Christopher Davis, is filing a lawsuit against the City of Opa-locka, its police department, former chief, and former city manager. Mitchell spent time in Miami-Dade Jail and on house arrest before prosecutors reduced his charges to battery and ultimately dismissed them in April; the case has since been expunged. His attorney, Michael Pizzi, alleges the charges were politically motivated and that the city knowingly made false accusations, seeking millions of dollars for constitutional rights violations. The City of Opa-locka stated it takes the matter seriously but declined to comment on pending litigation.
Crime · Medley, FL
Medley Police responded to a shooting around 7:28 a.m. Wednesday at Metro Express, a machinery repair shop near Northwest 109th Street and Northwest South River Drive. Authorities say 81-year-old Jose Antonio Lopez of Hialeah retrieved a .40 caliber firearm from a shelf and shot the shop's owner after being told to stop sleeping at the business. The victim was rushed by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue but did not survive; police found a spent casing, a projectile, and two firearms on the property. Lopez was arrested and faces a second-degree murder charge; he is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Public Safety · Miami-Dade County
The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office is searching for 89-year-old Byron Davalos, who suffers from Alzheimer's and was last seen Oct. 15 near the 1000 Block of NE 203 Street in North Miami-Dade. Davalos has gray balding hair, brown eyes, stands 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, and was last driving a black 2013 Kia Soul (tag KGBV28). He made contact with a reporter at a Shell gas station at 70 Crandon Boulevard in Key Biscayne and may be in need of services. Anyone with information is asked to contact Deputy M. Eloi at 305-715-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
Local Politics · Miami-Dade County
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited CAO Bakery in Pinecrest to support Democratic congressional candidate Eliott Rodriguez in Florida's 27th Congressional District race against Republican incumbent Rep. María Elvira Salazar. Rodriguez's campaign joined the Democratic Party's Red to Blue program, signaling increased national resources for the November contest. Salazar pushed back, characterizing Jeffries and Rodriguez as aligned with radical socialist forces, while Rodriguez cited his Cuban-American family background to reject that label. A bakery owner at the event said tariffs have raised costs on supplies like paper goods, forcing coffee price increases. Early voting in the district is scheduled to begin Monday.
Local Politics · Doral, FL
Mayor Christi Fraga delivered Doral's annual State of the City address at Doral City Hall on a Thursday evening, claiming overall crime dropped by 60% over four years. She acknowledged growing immigration and financial anxieties in the city, which is home to the largest Venezuelan population in the U.S., noting that families face uncertainty and businesses are feeling impacts from nationwide enforcement crackdowns. The address revisited ongoing tensions over Doral's 287(g) agreement with ICE; Fraga and Police Chief Matthew Castillo reiterated that no officers are conducting immigration enforcement, while activists including ACLU Florida's Sam Lester continue urging the city to rescind the agreement. Residents reported more people staying home from medical appointments and keeping children out of school amid fear.
Crime · Miami, FL
Leslie Howard Roberts, 63, owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, was sentenced in Miami federal court this month to three years and 10 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Roberts must repay nearly $2.6 million earned by falsely representing artwork as original Andy Warhol pieces, claiming they came from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts with fraudulent invoices. A co-conspirator, Carlos Rodriguez Melendez, posed as a New York auction company employee to authenticate forgeries and received probation. The case follows a 2023 federal sentence for another South Florida dealer in Palm Beach County convicted of selling fake Warhols.
Crime · Hialeah, FL
A second 17-year-old, Luis Delatorre, has been charged as an adult in connection with a Sept. 1 shooting at the Aquabella apartment complex at 11181 West 35th Way in Hialeah, Florida. Delatorre was booked into Metro West Detention Center on Thursday facing an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, while co-defendant Michael Isaac Delgado appeared in adult court Wednesday and was held without bond. According to the arrest report, the incident began as a physical altercation between two groups of males at the complex before guns were drawn and shots fired, prompting a massive police response. Police detained four males in a black Tahoe near the scene and recovered a victim who had fled on foot and called 911.
Crime · Hialeah, FL
Vicente Fermin Rodriguez Hernandez, 45, was arrested Thursday in Hialeah on a charge of lewd and lascivious touching of a minor, according to Miami-Dade jail records. The arrest report states that on Wednesday, a 17-year-old passenger alleged the driver forcibly kissed her, touched her body, and attempted to reach inside her pants during a rideshare trip before driving her home. After the ride, she said he sent texts expressing interest in continuing contact. Rodriguez Hernandez, who reportedly resides in California, invoked his right to remain silent before being booked; no attorney information was available.
Crime · Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade deputies arrested 21-year-old Michael Lamont Person on Wednesday after a months-long investigation into an August shooting at Northwest 75th Street and 22nd Court. Detectives say Person, who was riding a scooter with a child, crashed into another rider, then pulled out a gun and shot the man as he fled on foot; the victim was pronounced dead on scene by Miami Fire Rescue units. Person appeared in bond court Thursday to face a second-degree murder charge and was denied bond. The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
Local Business · North Miami, FL
Marc Ferman, co-founder of the Popcorn Frights Film Festival, has opened Hi-Voltage Video, a boutique physical-media shop at 2104 NE 123rd St., Suite 217A, in North Miami. The store carries VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu-rays, 4K discs, laserdiscs, signed memorabilia, and rare items, including a shelf dedicated to made-in-Miami films. Ferman chose the North Miami location for its personal connection to his childhood neighborhood. For Video Store Day on Oct. 17, the store will offer extremely limited quantities of special editions including 'Toxic Avenger,' 'Parasite,' and other titles. Hi-Voltage Video is open noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Education · Doral, FL
J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning to mark the completion of a $36 million expansion project. The additions include a new three-story academic and student activities space, a 2,000-seat gymnasium, and specialized classrooms. Officials said the enhancements will support students' academic and athletic success.
Local Politics
Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds and running mate Bryan Ávila held a campaign event Friday morning at the Bay of Pigs Museum & Library in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, addressing voters on communism, affordability, and law-and-order issues. Democratic candidate David Jolly met with pastors and Black voters from across Florida at a Florida East Coast Baptist Association meeting in Deerfield Beach, emphasizing housing, healthcare, education, and opposition to data centers as his campaign priorities. Early voting for the Florida gubernatorial race begins Monday, Oct. 19, with Election Day set for Nov. 3. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to join Jolly on the campaign trail next week in South Florida, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will campaign separately across the state.
